I think grain is great... I often add it to a bw photo... I remember taking this photo to a camera shop, and they wouldn't print it because it was 'too grainy'. If you check the post, you'll see that it reminded me of Maxfield Parrish's paintings.

It might be that whole Mercury in retrograde thing.. or it might just be that the auto function needed to choose a slow shutter speed (shakes) and high ISO (grain) for this particular image. In any event, it's still a beauty.